“When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim
or a Christian or a European, or anything else, you are being violent. Do you
see why it is violent? Because you are separating yourself from the rest of
mankind. When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it
breeds violence. So a man who is seeking to understand violence does not belong
to any country, to any religion, to any political party or partial system; he
is concerned with the total understanding of mankind.”

—Jiddu Krishnamurti

I quote the words above, not because I
believe in them, but because they represent exactly what I do not believe in.
In fact, I believe that the above statement is
the very mindset that has become the breeding ground for violence, and not
the other way around. Separation and individuality and culturalism are not
the breeding grounds for violence. Rather, it is the lack of appreciation of
these, that breeds violence. Therefore, I believe that the more we work towards
not appreciating these differences in
all of us, and the more we work towards seeing these differences as flaws— the
more and more we breed violence. It is in fact the type of thinking above that
we need to do away with, in order to do away with violence. We are all
different, and none of us will ever be the same, though some of us share
cultures and beliefs. And this is okay. This is what makes the world beautiful.

We are
all united by the fact that we are all different. We are united by the fact
that we are comprised of many colours, many cultures, many beliefs, many names,
many last names, many neighborhoods, many cities, many states, many nations,
many continents, many stories, many memories, many dreams, many goals— they’re
all different, we’re all different!
If we were all the same, and if purple was the same as pink and pink the same
as green and green the same as red and red the same as black and black the same
as white, if everything were all the same, then tell me, why would life be any
worth living?

It is the
very differences that we speak out against and that we fight to blur and to
eliminate, that are the reasons why we are beautiful as a human race! And these
differences are never going to really blur, they are never going to become one,
we will not ever have just one
culture, just one color, just one dream, just one story, just one city... that
is never going to happen! And yet, we crucify ourselves and each other for
living in our reality, in a reality that is crafted by the hands of divine
design and that is meant to be joyful, colorful, beautiful! It is not the
differences that separate us; it is not the separation that divides us; it is
not what divides us that causes violence and strife. On the contrary, our
differences are what give us our beauty; the separations between us are what
gives us oceans to cross; it is what divides us that gives us the reasons to
have a place to call home!

The error
of this age, lies not in the fact that we lack the ability to see that we are
one; rather, the error of this age lies in the fact that we lack the ability to
see the beauty in the ways that we are different, and to accept and appreciate
those differences, to celebrate those differences, to elevate those differences
as items of admiration!

You want
to kill him, because you believe that all people need to be the same, and yet,
why is he not the same as you? They want to kill you, because they believe that
you ought to be as they are, and yet, why are you not as they are? Then
something must be wrong, “sameness” must be created, thus, all differences must
be eliminated! And if those differences cannot be eliminated, then they must
eliminate you! People want to kill
other people, because they cannot change other people. But I have a secret to
tell all of you! And this secret is that no man and no woman needs to be the
same as any other man, as any other woman. You do not need to be the same as
them, and they do not need to be the same as you! You will in fact always be different from one another—
that is okay, that is good, that is beautiful!

Look at
all the reasons why we are different! Look upon them! They are the reasons why
we are beautiful, they are the reasons why this planet is worth traveling, is
worth exploring; they are the reasons why falling in love is an adventure! They
are the reasons why we dream, why we wander, why we crave! Our differences
cannot be denied, because they will always be there. Our elements of separation
cannot be scorned, because they are what make life worth traversing! The borders
that divide us, are not evidences of violence and misunderstanding; rather, the
borders that divide us are the evidences of what we have been able to grow, to
nurture, to rise! They are our evidences of what have been overcome in the
past, what we are overcoming now, and what we may reform in the future! But
they are ours, all the same. Our homes are ours, all the same. Your home is
your home just as much as my home is my home. Your culture is your culture,
just as much as my culture is my own. It is okay that you have your home and it
is okay that I have mine. And if I want to find a home in yours, then I will do
my best to respect what is yours, to adapt to what is yours, to learn and to
appreciate what is different from my own. And you will do the same, with me.

Let no
man or woman tell you, that we need to be the same. It is okay that we are not
the same. What we do need, is to see our differences as elements worth
appreciating and respecting. I have no more right to be different from you,
than you have the right to be different from me. Our right is equal, and in
that, we are equal. We are not equal because we are all the same— that is
simply untrue— but we are equal because we all have the equal right to the
things that make us unique, that make us ourselves, that make us know where we
belong. It is in fact those things that point out how different we are, that
are also responsible for defining our sense of belonging and the places and the
people we call home.

I am a
multiculural individual, and because I am a multicultural individual, I am
actually a culturalist. Because I am
so aware of the value of having a sense of belonging, I am aware that the sense
of belonging is something prized and to be upheld. It is difficult for me to immediately
say that I know where I belong, and because of that, I am painfully aware of
the value of being able to immediately know where and to whom you belong. I am
a culturalist, because I believe in the right that every individual has, to
his/her own culture, own way of thinking, own lifestyle. Culture, lifestyle,
and personal beliefs, are the three things that should not be tresspassed by
another. If another would like to become a part of that, then they should be
welcomed. But when they are welcomed, they should endeavour to make it there
own, they must endeavor to respect and to appreciate, just as much as they
respect and appreciate what is natively their own.

Love does
not exist in the act of diminishing those things that define us; rather, love
is enacted through respecting and appreciating those things that define each of
us. Every man and woman has the right to their own culture, in their own home,
in their own church (or absence of church). Let no other individual or group of
individuals, attempt to destroy or to alter that.

I
believe that until we stop trying to all become the same as everyone else, or
to make everyone else the same as us, there will always be the violence that is
falsley proclaimed to come from acknowledging our differences and appreciating
our uniqueness. I would want to call out to all people, to do the opposite of
what is encouraged that we do, I want to call out to all people, to allow
others to be who they are, with the knowledge that you must also be allowed to
be who you are, and that your home must be respected no less than how their
home must be respected.

It is
true that we are all citizens of this world; however, if this world were filled
with identical citizens, then I don’t see why it would be a world worth staying
in. Being a citizen of the world does not equate to being someone with no home,
no identity, no culture and no creed. The world is a colorful place, and we are
making all those colors, we are all
those colors. Let’s see this, let’s understand this, and please, let’s love
this.

I just want
to close this piece, by saying thank you to
Mélanie Berliet, Heidi Priebe and Noelle Beams,
for welcoming me to Thought Catalog, and for arranging my stay here. I am happy
to be welcomed here and I am happy to join the Thought Catalog Team. I’m also
thankful and glad to meet all of you, my new readers. I appreciate everyone who
takes the time to read what I write, and I am glad that you are here.

SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND

I SPEAK YOUR LANGUAGE

THE DAILY BELL

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ON GOODREADS

"I am a flawed person. A brook with many stones, a clear blue sky with many blackbirds. I have many shortcomings. A rainbow that’s not long enough, a starry night with clouds. But I can only be thankful to the God who loves me just this way, and I can only be grateful to the people in my life who accept the clear blue sky with many blackbirds and who are patient with the rainbow that isn’t long enough. And because of this, I am taught love, because of this I love my God, and I love these people."— C. JoyBell C.

DISCLAIMER

This blog is not an online diary. Anything reflected through my writings here, do not necessarily mirror my present emotional, mental, or physical state, unless directly stated. Furthermore, any resemblances to you or to anyone you know, is purely coincidental and is not a result of me creating any "blind items" about you or your loved ones and friends. Moreover, your reading of my writings does not constitute a marriage, personal relationship, or personal friendship, between us.